Pietro Giannone

Italian historian, born 7 May, 1676,
at Ischitella in the province of Capinata, Naples; died at Turin,
27 March, 1748. He received his first instruction in the house of
his uncle, Gaetano Argento, a lawyer, and after having received
the degree of Doctor of Law at Naples he began to practise his
profession, following the example of his father. He devoted all
his leisure time to the study of history. After preparatory work
extending over a period of twenty years, he published under the
title "Dell' istoria civile del regno di Napoli" (1723,
4 vols.), a work which caused a great sensation, especially on
account of its bitter anti-ecclesiastical bias, which led to its
repeated translation into English and German. In it Giannone
combined a narrative of political matters, founded on historical
sources, with an interesting description of the juridical and
moral condition of the country; but as he ascribes all existing
evils to the malignant influence of the Church, especially the
Roman Curia, we may justly assume it a compilation of biased
attacks and misstatements. It was immediately put on the Index and
its author excommunicated and forced to leave Naples. He went to
Vienna where he was pensioned by Emperor Charles VI. He was
readmitted to the Church soon after by the Archbishop of Naples
who was in Vienna at the time. Having forfeited his pension in
1744 Giannone went to Venice, but the Government, suspecting him
on account of his political opinions, surrounded him with spies.
He tried to gain the Government's goodwill by publishing a
pamphlet entitled: "Lettera intorno al dominio del mare
Adriatico", eulogizing Venice's conquest of the Adriatic; he
was unsuccessful and was forcibly expelled in the following year.
After wandering to and fro for a while he accepted the hospitality
of an old book-dealer in Geneva. There he composed his intensely
anti-clerical essay: "Il triregno ossia del regno del cielo,
della terra e del papa" (Geneva, 1735, new ed. Rome, 1895, 3
vols.). Enticed to a village in Savoy, he was arrested, imprisoned
in the fortress of Ceva, and transported thence to Turin, where he
died. It is reported that before his death he was reconciled with
the Church. Giannone's posthumous works are: "Opere postume"
(Lausanne, 1760; enlarged, Venice, 1768; new ed., 2 vols.,
Capolago, 1841). The first volume contains: "Apologia dell'
istoria civile del regno di Napoli; the second: "Indice
generale dell'opera dei tre regni". His collected works
appeared in Milan (5 vols., 1858). Later, Mancini published his
posthumous works in two volumes (Turin, 1859), entitled "Opere
inedite", containing the "Discorsi storici e politici
sopra gli annali di Tito Livio"; "La chiesa sotto il
pontificato di Gregorio il Grande". The autobiography of
Giannone was published by Pierantoni (Rome, 1890).